Roman Catholic Blog

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos: Celebrate TLM In Parishes – Even When It Isn’t Requested

Via What Does The Prayer Really Say?: PCED’s Card. Castrillon Hoyos: celebrate TLM in parishes even when it isn’t requested

Quote:

According to Card. Castrillion Hoyos, the Holy Father desires that the TLM be a normal part of parish life. He also says that priests should offer it in their parishes even if there is no specific request for it.

That's a very different message than the one given here: Ex-Papal Liturgist, Archbishop Piero Marini: Liturgical Renewal "Irreversible"

Background quote from Wikipedia:

Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos (born July 4, 1929) is a Colombian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1996 to 2006, and currently serves as President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1998.

Any thoughts?

Video: Hillary Clinton Tries To Work The Coffee Machine

Source: Video: Smartest woman in the world tries to work the coffee machine

Quote:

The beauty of this footage? It was apparently taken during Her Majesty’s common-man joyride/photo op this morning, replete with choreographed pit stop for gas and java. I guarantee you, right now somewhere in Indiana, some poor lackey is being berated for failing to brief her on how to work the self-serve.

Thank goodness the working class has an alternative to this out-of-touch poseur, one who appreciates them for the xenophobic, Bible-thumping gun fetishists they are.

My thoughts:

Imagine if this were a clip of George W. Bush or Dan Quayle (back in the day). This footage would have been looped everywhere. I'm not sure how much airplay it's gotten now, but I'm confident the only reason we're seeing footage like this and seeing the media report on Hillary's Bosnia whoppers is that most of the mainstream media is in the tank for Obama.

Many politicians who claim to be "champions" of the common folk are actually multi-millionaires who don't have to do the things most people have to do every day, because they have staff to do those things for them. See: Jackpot: Billary scores $109 mil since leaving office; Update: $20.4 million in 2007

Often, when they try to look like "one of the people", it looks staged: Video: Defender of the common man knocks back a shot; Update: More Hillary: Have I mentioned that I know how to shoot?

To be fair, Trent Lott didn't come off much better here: Everything that’s wrong with the Beltway GOP elite in two words

See also:

Snobs here, snobs there, snobs everywhere

Getting fat off the American taxpayer

CBS reporter on Hillary’s Bosnia trip: Yes, I can confirm she’s a shameless liar

A Tuzla greeting exposes Hillary

Walking back the Tuzla sniper-fire run

Video: Hillary “misspeaks” about Tuzla again; Update: “I was sleep-deprived”

Hillary, Serial Fabulist?

Tuzla Girl haunts Hillary

Hitchens on the Tuzla Dash, and what Hillary hides

Hillary fired for lies, unethical behavior from Congressional job: former boss

Surprise: Hillary caught in another stump-speech lie

More thoughts:

Democrats (even "Catholic" ones) don't seem to care if their candidates are liars (see the links above), friends with murderous, far-left fringe America haters, friends with racists (and possibly closet racists, themselves, as seen here and here), or even that their candidates promote the killing of unborn babies and/or infanticide.

I don't understand it.

Any thoughts?

Barack Obama: There Will Be Bamboozling

A look at Obama's pattern of "borrowing" rhetoric from uncredited sources. Is Obama a plagiarist? See for yourself.

Ann Coulter: Out Of "Context" Or Out Of His Mind?

Thomas Sowell: An Old Newness

Dennis Prager: Wright Speaks for the Left

OneNewsNow.com: Jeremiah Wright undermines racial reconciliation

Rush Limbaugh: Obama Throws Wright Off Planet, As Wheels Come Off the Campaign

Rush Limbaugh: Drive-Bys Praise Obama's Poll-Driven Phoniness as "Courage"

Bill O'Reilly & Karl Rove:

At first, I winced when Bill O'Reilly claimed Jeremiah Wright, a man who repeatedly accuses the United States government of creating HIV and AIDS in an effort to instigate the genocide of the black population, is "smart", but had to admit that O'Reilly may be right after I heard O'Reilly connect the dots back to Jeremiah Wright's mansion and money.

Hate peddling can be profitable, and Jeremiah Wright has indeed profited by the lies he continues to repeat. One wonders if Wright actually believes those lies (which would call his intelligence into question) or simply repeats them for financial gain, as Bill O'Reilly seems to suspect.

HotAir.com has some good analysis here: Press conference: Obama shocked, shocked at Wright’s behavior; Update: Video added; Update: Q&A highlights added

Excellent points by Allahpundit:

The bottom line: After 20 years of friendship, if Obama didn’t know Wright held these beliefs he’s a moron and if he did know he’s a fraud.

Remember when TNR [The New Republic] broke the news about Ron Paul’s neo-confederate newsletters? The big knock there wasn’t that Paul necessarily held those views himself but that his carelessness in letting them be published under his name called his judgment and competence into question. How is this [situation with Obama over Jeremiah Wright] any different? Unless someone wants to argue that Wright’s militancy is something he came to only recently, then Obama somehow spent 20 years in the pews without ever noticing that his preacher wasn’t particularly fond of America, white people, “Zionism,” etc etc. Exactly how many sermons did he miss?

More from HotAir.com: Does Obama’s repudiation lance the boil?

Any thoughts?

Ad nauseam

This picture makes me ill, the caption on it reads:

"Chelsea Clinton listens to her translator as she is introduced prior to speaking to a group of residents at the Our Lady of Providence elderly home, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Clinton is spending two days here campaigning for her mother, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., ahead of the June 1 primary.(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)"

Perhaps someone should tell the elderly residents Senator Clinton's pro-euthanasia stances, or even better the nun posing with her in the picture!

St. Peter of Verona

Today was the feast of Saint Peter of Verona, in the Universal Church, before 1969. Prior to that year, the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, although she died on April 29th, had been moved till tomorrow - April 30th.

Dominican Friar Peter of Verona was both an inquisitor and martyr. Peter was born at Verona, Italy, in 1205. Both of his parents were Catharists, a heresy that denied that God created the material world. Even so, Peter was educated at a Catholic school and later at the University of Bologna. While in Bologna, Peter was accepted into the Dominican Order by St. Dominic. He developed into a great preacher, and was well known for his inspiring sermons in the Lombardy region. In addition, around the year 1234, he was appointed by Pope Gregory IX as inquisitor of Northern Italy, where many Catharists lived. Peter's preaching attracted large crowds, but as inquisitor he made many enemies.

In 1252, while returning from Como to Milan, he was murdered by a Catharist assassin at the age of forty-six.

In 1969, Paul VI "demoted" Peter, Wikipedia gives the following explanation:

"Pope Pius II canonized Catherine in the year 1461. Her feast day, at the time, was not included in the Tridentine Calendar. When it was later added to the Roman Calendar, it was put on April 30, the day after she died, owing to the fact that the feast of Saint Saint Peter of Verona was on April 29. In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, it was decided to leave the celebration of the feast of St Peter of Verona to local calendars, because he was not as well known worldwide, and Saint Catherine's feast was moved to April 29. Other Christians also, including Lutherans, celebrate her feast on the day of her death. Traditional Roman Catholics continue to commemorate St Catherine's feast on April 30." (my underline added.)

I think the "sticky wicket" on Saint Peter of Verona was that he was an Inquisitor. After his canonization he was listed as a patron saint of Inquisitors.

If ever Holy Mother Church needed an active and aggressive "Holy Office" it is NOW. I know I'm dreaming. While I love BXVI, he's no Pius X and, no matter how much needed, we won't see renewed "Committees of Vigilance."

Nonetheless, one can dream, and what better day than the feast of Saint Peter of Verona, patron of Inquisitors?

Hugh Hewitt: "Benedict XVI: CEO"

Hugh Hewitt posts a sort seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people take on the Pope's visit, based on Hugh's talk last week to the Orange Catholic Foundation's annual Conference on Business and Ethics.

It's an interesting read, and departure from the standard commentary on the Pope's visit.

Ex-Papal Liturgist, Archbishop Piero Marini: Liturgical Renewal "Irreversible"

Christ Healing The Blind Bartimeus by Carl Heinrich Bloch

Here's the link: Vatican official calls liturgical renewal 'irreversible path'

Here's a section of the article:

Liturgical renewal launched by the Second Vatican Council is an "irreversible path" and has not been affected by Pope Benedict XVI's concession on wider use of the Tridentine rite, a Vatican official said.

"The pope's decision has so far not produced any change in the celebrative practice of our ecclesial communities. His gesture was only one of service to unity," Archbishop Piero Marini, who arranged papal liturgies for more than 20 years, said in an interview April 25 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

"Therefore let's look ahead and let's continue with enthusiasm the path undertaken by the council," he said.

Late last year Archbishop Marini was named to head the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.

The archbishop remains involved in international liturgical issues, and he said a revision of the committee's statutes is giving it wider authority over eucharistic congresses at the national and regional level, too.

Asked if Pope Benedict's relaxation of restrictions on the use of the pre-Vatican II liturgy signaled a halt to the liturgical reform movement, Archbishop Marini said that was clearly not the pope's aim.

The pope's decree "does not intend to introduce modifications on the current Roman Missal or express a negative judgment on the liturgical reform desired by the council," he said.

He said the decree, which reached out to disaffected Catholics, should be seen as an effort to maintain unity in the church.

Archbishop Marini said his own experience in organizing papal liturgies in more than 100 countries has convinced him that the liturgical reform movement has brought overwhelmingly positive results.

"Everywhere, the liturgy desired by the council was celebrated with lively participation and enthusiasm. Everyone understood the liturgy as proper to the local church and at the same time as an expression of the universal church," he said.

Those liturgies also demonstrated that liturgical reform has solid theological foundations, he said.

"Therefore this is an irreversible path," he said.

Liturgical celebration cannot be separated from the life of the church, the archbishop said, and this means "the church of today, not the church of yesterday or of tomorrow."

At the same time, Archbishop Marini said celebrating the liturgy according to Vatican II is not an easy thing. It takes patience, perseverance and pastoral charity, he said.

One particular issue that has emerged during papal trips, he said, is the fact that some Masses are now attended by hundreds of thousands of the faithful. That raises practical considerations like the number of concelebrants, the distribution of Communion and the level of personal participation, he said.

Pope Benedict has already asked for reconsideration of the role of concelebrants, and Archbishop Marini said it makes sense to look at the question through a serious study and with eventual pastoral-liturgical guidelines.

My thoughts:

We'll see, Archbishop Marini. I suspect you're wrong, though. I certainly think it's wrong to claim that Summorum Pontificum was only issued in an effort to preserve unity and avoid schism. How does the allowance of a right Archbishop Marini clearly views as old and outdated alongside the Ordo Missae promulgated by Pope Paul VI signify a movement that preserves liturgical unity?

It's clear that the archbishop is not in agreement with Pope Benedict XVI with respect to the liturgy. That is probably why he's known as ex-papal liturgist, Archbishop Piero Marini.

Any thoughts?

Barack Obama Defends Opposition To Partial-Birth Abortion Ban In Interview

Here's the link: Barack Obama Defends Opposition To Partial-Birth Abortion Ban in Interview

Quote:

In a Sunday interview, pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama defended his opposition to a ban on partial-birth abortions. Though he wasn't in Congress at the time it voted on the ban, he said he would have supported it had it contained a health exception.

However, doctors and medical groups readily acknowledge that the three-day-long abortion procedure -- involving the killing of an unborn baby halfway through the birthing process - never helps women medically.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Obama said, "On an issue like partial-birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn't have that."

In addition to providing no medical benefit for women, pro-life groups oppose a health exception because they typically allow virtually all abortions to remain legal.

In this case, the health exception, which the Supreme Court ruled was not required in the federal partial-birth abortion ban, would have gutted the legislation.

Obama also claimed pro-life advocates only brought the partial-birth abortion ban forward to "polarize" the abortion debate.

"Now, part of the reason they didn't have [the health exception] was purposeful, because those who are opposed to abortion — and I don't begrudge that at all. They have a moral calling to try to oppose what they think is immoral," he said.

"Oftentimes what they were trying to do was to polarize the debate and make it more difficult for people, so that they could try to bring an end to abortions overall," Obama contended.

In a speech before Planned Parenthood in July 2007, Obama decried the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth abortion ban.

"There’s a lot at stake in this election, especially for our daughters. To appreciate that all you have to do is review the recent decisions handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States," he said.

"For the first time in Gonzales versus Carhart, the Supreme Court held—upheld a federal ban on abortions with criminal penalties for doctors," he complained.

"Some people argue that the federal ban on abortion was just an isolated effort aimed at one medical procedure—that it’s not part of a concerted effort to roll back the hard-won rights of American women. That presumption is also wrong," he concluded.

See also:

More On Barack Obama's Liberalism, Terrorist Associations, And Religious Values

Barack Obama's Liberal Elitism: "They" Cling To Religion, Guns, Anti-Immigrant Sentiment, Because They Are "Bitter"

LifeNews.com: Barack Obama Doesn't Know When Life Begins, He And Clinton OK Abortion

Procter & Gamble Promotes Explicit Open-Mouth Homosexual Kissing

The Scene Below Is From The CBS Soap Opera, "As The World Turns" And Was Originally Broadcast On April 23, 2008:

On March 3, 2008 (Before The Recent Scene Shown Above) "CNN Showbiz Tonight" Ran This Story:

Some Earlier, Controversial Scenes In the Luke And Noah Story On As The World Turns:

Here is the link to the American Family Association's page documenting the recent homosexual kiss: Procter & Gamble Promotes Explicit Open-Mouth Homosexual Kissing

Quote:

Procter & Gamble has resumed using explicit, open-mouth homosexual kissing in their soap opera, "As The World Turns." Procter & Gamble decided to include this type of content as a commitment to "diversity." Procter & Gamble stopped showing such scenes some months ago, but has now decided to again help promote the homosexual agenda which includes homosexual marriage.

[Homosexual] activists are hopeful that the Procter & Gamble effort will desensitize viewers to the homosexual lifestyle and help make the unhealthy and immoral lifestyle more acceptable to society, especially to children and youth.

My thoughts:

As previously reported on this blog, As The World Turns currently features a plot line about a male character in his late teens, Luke Snyder, "coming out of the closet" and having a homosexual relationship (see: Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer). I did a post about the Luke and Noah story here: Propaganda 101: As The World Turns' Progressive Plot Line.

Since doing the post, I discovered that there are fan sites devoted to encouraging young people to watch the story of the relationship between the characters of Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer unfold. Here are two examples: Luke & Noah & NoahandLuke.com

You can watch the entire story of Luke Snyder’s “coming out” and his relationship with Noah Mayer here:

Luke's [“Coming Out”] Story

Luke & Noah's Story

There is a blog dedicated to discussing depiction of (mostly male) homosexuality in the media, titled, AfterElton.com (with a lesbian counterpart titled, AfterEllen.com). AfterElton.com have covered the Luke and Noah plotline extensively. You can see that coverage here: AfterElton.com: As The World Turns. Here is AfterElton.com's post on the most recent homosexual kiss between the Luke and Noah characters: Gay Teens Finally Kiss Again on "As the World Turns"

Let Procter & Gamble know your thoughts on this issue. They will not likely read each e-mail, so don't feel you have to use your own words. The form letter is enough and they'll likely just be counting how many e-mails they get from the American Family Association, which will matter to them, at least on a business level.

If you do contact anyone about this issue, please be appropriate. Imprudent and/or insulting messages could conceivably (and unfairly) be used as pro-homosexual propaganda in an effort to paint anyone opposed to the Luke and Noah story as vicious and unreasonable.

Of interest: List Of Procter & Gamble Brands

Call 1-800-331-3774 to tell Procter & Gamble to discontinue the Luke and Noah story. It's a quick and easy poll with no need to leave a message or talk to an operator.

You can also call As The World Turns at: (718) 780-7675

You can also use the CBS Online Feedback Form to comment on the Luke and Noah story: CBS Online Feedback Form

Any thoughts?

Rush Limbaugh Comments On Pope Benedict XVI's Address To Seminarians And Young People, St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, New York, Saturday, April 19, 2008

Rush Limbaugh: Pope Benedict XVI Speaks Truth

Text of Rush Limbaugh's commentary after the jump...

Report: Pope Benedict XVI Considering Ways To Cleanse The Priesthood

Here is the link: Pope Celebrates Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, Prays for Healing From Church Sex Scandal

Here is the key quote:

A top Vatican official now says the Roman Catholic Church is weighing a further change to clean up the clergy: revising church law so predators could be more easily removed.

"It's possible," said Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican office that reviews abuse claims against priests worldwide.

"There are some things under consideration that I'm not able to say," Levada told reporters Friday, in a meeting at Time magazine's offices. A Vatican spokesman stressed Saturday that no immediate changes are planned.

It is the latest signal during Benedict's first papal visit to America that he is intent on purifying the priesthood as he affirms traditional Catholic practices and teaching.

My thoughts: Working to prevent men with homosexual tendencies from receiving the Sacrament of Holy Orders or entering religious life would be a great start!

See also: Bill Maher Makes Excuses For Michael Jackson, But Attacks The Catholic Church [Language Warning]

More On Barack Obama's Liberalism, Terrorist Associations, And Religious Values

Farrakhan: Obama is the end of caucasian rule in America!

Tucker Carlson on MSNBC: Barack Obama is linked to Terrorist William Ayers

Thomas Sowell: A Living Lie

Quote from Thomas Sowell's column:

An e-mail from a reader said that, while Hillary Clinton tells lies, Barack Obama is himself a lie. That is becoming painfully apparent with each new revelation of how drastically his carefully crafted image this election year contrasts with what he has actually been saying and doing for many years.

Senator Obama's election year image is that of a man who can bring the country together, overcoming differences of party or race, as well as solving our international problems by talking with Iran and other countries with which we are at odds, and performing other miscellaneous miracles as needed.

There is, of course, not a speck of evidence that Obama has ever transcended party differences in the United States Senate. Voting records analyzed by the National Journal show him to be the farthest left of anyone in the Senate. Nor has he sponsored any significant bipartisan legislation -- nor any other significant legislation, for that matter.

Senator Obama is all talk – glib talk, exciting talk, confident talk, but still just talk.

Some of his recent talk in San Francisco has stirred up controversy because it revealed yet another blatant contradiction between Barack Obama's public image and his reality.

Speaking privately to supporters in heavily left-liberal San Francisco, Obama let down his hair and described working class people in Pennsylvania as so "bitter" that they "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."

Like so much that Obama has said and done over the years, this is standard stuff on the far left, where guns and religion are regarded as signs of psychological dysfunction -- and where opinions different from those of the left are ascribed to emotions ("bitter" in this case), rather than to arguments that need to be answered.

Like so many others on the left, Obama rejects "stereotypes" when they are stereotypes he doesn't like but blithely throws around his own stereotypes about "a typical white person" or "bitter" gun-toting, religious and racist working class people.

In politics, the clearer a statement is, the more certain it is to be followed by a "clarification," when people react adversely to what was plainly said.

Obama and his supporters were still busy "clarifying" Jeremiah Wright's very plain statements when it suddenly became necessary to "clarify" Senator Obama's own statements in San Francisco.

People who have been cheering whistle-blowers for years have suddenly denounced the person who blew the whistle on what Obama said in private that is so contradictory to what he has been saying in public.

However inconsistent Obama's words, his behavior has been remarkably consistent over the years. He has sought out and joined with the radical, anti-Western left, whether Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers of the terrorist Weatherman underground or pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli Rashid Khalidi.

Obama is also part of a long tradition on the left of being for the working class in the abstract, or as people potentially useful for the purposes of the left, but having disdain or contempt for them as human beings.

Karl Marx said, "The working class is revolutionary or it is nothing." In other words, they mattered only in so far as they were willing to carry out the Marxist agenda.

Fabian socialist George Bernard Shaw included the working class among the "detestable" people who "have no right to live." He added: "I should despair if I did not know that they will all die presently, and that there is no need on earth why they should be replaced by people like themselves."

Similar statements on the left go back as far as Rousseau in the 18th century and come forward into our own times.

Bill Maher Makes Excuses For Michael Jackson, But Attacks The Catholic Church [Language Warning]

Maher "apologized" and then bashed the Church some more:

Craig Ferguson interviews Bill Maher May 3, 2005

Bill Maher said the following on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson:

CBS

Late Late Show

May 3, 2005

34:00

Bill Maher: "I think that there is no perspective. People have no perspective, especially about crime. You know, zero tolerance. You know, of course, nobody ever wants to see a child, you know, diddled. That’s just plain wrong. But even the people who are testifying against him, they’re saying that he serviced them. They didn’t service him."

Craig Ferguson: "You don’t have kids, do you, Bill?"

Maher: "No."

Ferguson: "No. I have a son. It makes me crazy, this thing, this Michael Jackson thing. It drives me, the idea of someone touching my kid, I would go, I nearly swore there. I’d go crazy."

Maher: "Very wrong. But, you know, I remember when I was a kid. I was savagely beaten once by bullies in the schoolyard. Savagely beaten. If I had a choice between being savagely beaten and being gently masturbated by a pop star. It’s just me."

Ferguson: "The always controversial Bill Maher, everybody."

Maher: "What? That’s it?"

Ferguson: "Bill Maher. We’ll be right back with Rain Pryor."

As far as the sex abuse scandal, my thoughts are after the jump...

"Abortion Rights" Lawmakers Seek To Receive Communion

Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand." While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him." And he came up to Jesus at once and said, "Hail, Master!" And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, "Friend, why are you here?" Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. (Matthew 26:45-50)

"Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'" (Matthew 7:21-23)

This Associated Press article (which is clearly written from a perspective that is biased in favor of liberal pro-abortion politicians) is worth reading: Abortion-rights lawmakers to receive Communion

Here is a quote from the opening section:

Catholic members of Congress who publicly support the right to abortion will trek to Nationals Park Thursday for a Mass celebrated by a pope who has said such lawmakers should not receive Communion.

Leading these lawmakers, some of whom have repeatedly complained about remarks by Pope Benedict XVI and a few bishops on the subject, will be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the government's highest-ranking Catholic and a supporter of abortion rights. Nowhere in her remarks or her actions this week has she referred to strains with the new pontiff.

Instead, she bent to kiss his ring at the White House Wednesday as Benedict arrived in a blaze of pageantry, and later she spoke glowingly on the House floor about his commitment to truth, justice and freedom. A week before he arrived, the House passed a resolution welcoming him to Washington.

And yes, her spokesman said, she intends to receive Communion from one of the 300 priests and lay ministers who will offer it to the gathered flock of 45,000.

Benedict's stance on abortion and Communion has been painful for elected officials who inhabit the troubled zone where Catholicism and their political beliefs intersect.

Pelosi was one of 48 Catholic lawmakers—some who support and some who oppose abortion rights—who signed a letter in 2004 complaining about statements by "some members of the Catholic hierarchy."

"If Catholic legislators are scorned and held out for ridicule by Church leaders on the basis of a single issue, the Church will lose strong advocates on a wide range of issues that relate to the core of important Catholic social teaching," they wrote. "Moreover, criticism of us on a matter that is essentially one of personal morality will deter other Catholics from entering politics, and in the long run the Church will suffer."

None of the Catholic lawmakers interviewed Wednesday said they hesitated to attend Thursday's celebration of Mass. This event, they said, is about bigger themes and values, such as hope and compassion.

"Pope Benedict's historic visit is an important opportunity for Catholics and for all Americans to reflect on the ways we can contribute to the common good, address global issues of poverty, disease and despair," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., whose views in 2004 led several Midwestern bishops to say they would deny the Democratic presidential nominee Communion.

"In a nation and a world facing such extraordinary and daunting challenges, the pope's visit promises hope, inspiration and great wisdom," Kerry said in a statement.

My thoughts:

These pro-abortion "Catholic" politicians are shameless and they don't seem to fear God's judgment. It's both upsetting and embarrassing.

The Holy Father has already expressed Church teaching on this matter in a letter titled, Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles:

1. Presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgment regarding one’s worthiness to do so, according to the Church’s objective criteria, asking such questions as: "Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of grave sin? Have I incurred a penalty (e.g. excommunication, interdict) that forbids me to receive Holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?" The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion, merely as a consequence of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected (cf. Instruction "Redemptionis Sacramentum," nos. 81, 83).

2. The Church teaches that abortion or euthanasia is a grave sin. The Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, with reference to judicial decisions or civil laws that authorize or promote abortion or euthanasia, states that there is a "grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection. [...] In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it, or to 'take part in a propaganda campaign in favour of such a law or vote for it’" (no. 73). Christians have a "grave obligation of conscience not to cooperate formally in practices which, even if permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to God’s law. Indeed, from the moral standpoint, it is never licit to cooperate formally in evil. [...] This cooperation can never be justified either by invoking respect for the freedom of others or by appealing to the fact that civil law permits it or requires it" (no. 74).

3. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

4. Apart from an individual's judgment about his worthiness to present himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion may find himself in the situation where he must refuse to distribute Holy Communion to someone, such as in cases of a declared excommunication, a declared interdict, or an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin (cf. can. 915).

5. Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.

6. When "these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible," and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, "the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it" (cf. Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Declaration "Holy Communion and Divorced, Civilly Remarried Catholics" [2002], nos. 3-4). This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of Holy Communion passing judgment on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.

See also:

Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life by The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Discipline Regarding the Denial of Holy Communion to Those Obstinately Persevering in Manifest Grave Sin by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, D.D., J.C.D. (Periodica De Re Canonica, 2007)

Denial of the Eucharist to Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians: A Canonical Case Study by Edward Peters

Any thoughts?

Text Of Pope Benedict XVI's Speech To Bishops

Text Of Pope Benedict XVI's Speech To Bishops (after the jump)...

Text Of Pope's Speech At The White House

Following is the text of the address the Pope gave in the Rose Garden of the White House this morning. I hope secular media reporters and pundits paid close attention, because this is a Pope who understands America: it's history, the principles of it's Founding, and the attributes that make it great. I'd say the Holy Father understands our Founding principles better than 75% of the members of Congress.

"Mr. President, thank you for your gracious words of welcome on behalf of the people of the United States of America. I deeply appreciate your invitation to visit this great country. My visit coincides with an important moment in the life of the Catholic community in America: the celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the elevation of the country's first Diocese -- Baltimore -- to a metropolitan Archdiocese, and the establishment of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville. Yet I am happy to be here as a guest of all Americans. I come as a friend, a preacher of the Gospel and one with great respect for this vast pluralistic society. America's Catholics have made, and continue to make, an excellent contribution to the life of their country. As I begin my visit, I trust that my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the Church in the United States, and strengthen the resolve of Catholics to contribute ever more responsibly to the life of this nation, of which they are proud to be citizens.

You Decide: Has "The Cafeteria Is Closed" Blog Reopened The Cafeteria Over The Issue Of Legal Recognition For Homosexual Unions?

Tab Hunter & Roddy McDowall have their cake and sausage, and eat it too.

The Cafeteria is Closed blog has a post which appears to promote the legal recognition of homosexual unions and accept notions about the nature of homosexual activity that have caused some controversy. There are currently over 400 comments on the post.

Here's the link: Homosexuality

After the jump, I will respond to what I read in Gerald's post and in some of the comments. Some of what I say, I will have said before, but I went through and edited things, updated links, and made an effort to tighten what is intended to be a fairly thorough response to the thoughts expressed by Gerald and others commenting at The Cafeteria is Closed blog.

Although the response is lengthy, it isn't just an articulation of my unsupported opinions, hence the links and the length.

One of the reasons error is so widespread in society is that it takes effort to come to know the truth, and refuting errors can involve writing a whole book-length response to properly refute errors that can be rattled off in a few sentences. Many people aren't interested in the work entailed in learning the truth or refuting error, and this is especially so when the errors appeal to them because of an attachment to sin.

I'm not suggesting those things of Gerald, but I do contend that Gerald has sort of gone off the deep end on this issue.

My response to Gerald is after the jump. Please add your comments at the end.

Transcript Of Papal Q & A On Shepherd One

John Allen of the National Catholic Register posted a transcript of the papal Q & A aboard Shepherd One during the flight from Rome to the U.S.

Among other topics, Pope Benedict XVI addresses the clergy sexual  scandal.

Pope Benedict XVI's Message To The United States

The American Life League Welcomes Pope Benedict XVI

Here's the link to the advertisement welcoming Pope Benedict XVI: The American Life League Welcomes Pope Benedict XVI

Any thoughts?

Matt C. Abbott: California Priest In 'State Of Crisis'

Here's the background story: Fresno Priest Still In Exile

Quote:

In 2003, Father Joe Baca, of the Fresno, Calif., diocese — and who, for a time, was permitted to celebrate the Tridentine Mass at St. Agnes Mission Church in Pinedale, Calif. — was removed from public ministry by Bishop John Steinbock.

Father Baca's story, along with that of Father Jean-Michael Lastiri, can be found in this 2004 article from Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission.

Father Lastiri is still in public ministry. In June 2006, he was named Diocesan Director of Liturgy and Worship and Evangelization. On March 5, 2007, he was named administrator of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in downtown Fresno, and he currently heads the diocese's (newly-renamed) Office of Justice, Liturgy, and Worship.

Meanwhile, Father Baca's situation, like that of Arlington, Va., priest Father James Haley, remains in a sort of limbo.

Here's the update: Help Us, Pope Benedict... California Priest In 'State Of Crisis'

Quote:

Readers might recall my coverage of Father Joe Baca, of the Fresno, Calif., Catholic diocese. Father Baca contacted me in recent days and seemed distraught. I was, and still am, concerned for his well-being.

Thankfully, Father Baca is working with Joe Maher, president of Opus Bono Sacerdotii ("Work for the Good of the Priesthood"), who has issued the following update to Father Baca's unsettling situation:

'I just talked to Father Joe Baca at length. He assured me that he was not suicidal; however, he is utterly exhausted and has lost just about all hope. He received a letter from his bishop via e-mail on Monday which I believe threw him into a state of emotional and physical shock. I cannot say more than this due to the confidential nature of canonical cases. I asked Father Joe to send me a copy of the letter and I may talk to his bishop personally to see what can be done to ease his pain and bring some justice to this situation. I don't want to give anyone false hope because bishops often act at their own discretion regardless of canon law. We shall see.

'All that being said, and based on the thousands of priests' cases we deal with, and one new priest a day on average contacting us for help, Father Joe is in a state of crisis. Now more than ever, he needs the kind of love and support you are giving him here. Very few priests have such a network. When I can give a further update, I will.

'May Our Lady of Priests be Father Joe's, and your, health and protection.'

Please pray for all priests, particularly those who are suffering for the cause of the Faith!

Barack Obama's Liberal Elitism: "They" Cling To Religion, Guns, Anti-Immigrant Sentiment, Because They Are "Bitter"

Obama's statement:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them…And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not."

"And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

ABC News: Obama Allies Avoid Trying to Explain Most Controversial Part of His Remarks

HotAir.com: Dems desperately focus on the “bitter”

Quote:

Bitterness, however, wasn’t the objectionable part of the statement. Hillary Clinton chose to chase that particular rabbit around the track, and some of the media followed, although not all. Obama’s camp seized on that and has tried adopting bitterness as its strategy, claiming that small-town voters are right to be bitter about an economic expansion that has created the lowest unemployment we have had in any 25-year period of this nation’s industrial history.

But that’s intellectually dishonest. Let’s break this statement into its component insults:

“[T]hey cling to guns…” Cling to guns? Americans have “clung” to guns since the founding of the Republic. It’s such a core value to this nation that its founders placed it second on the Bill of Rights, right after freedom of speech and religion. Speaking of which …

“or [they cling to] religion …” People don’t become religious because the economy hits a few bumps in the road. Obama may have chosen his religion based on politics, but most people follow a religion out of a deeper sense of spirituality. I can’t think of a more condescending and contemptuous analysis of religious dedication than this statement.

“or [they cling to] antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment…” Small-town voters are bigots and xenophobes; there’s no other way to read the first part of this statement. The second part, about them being “anti-immigrant”, is a non-sequitur. They may be anti-illegal immigrant, but that’s a far different issue. Obama offers no proof that small-town voters are xenophobes, but the Frisco audience didn’t demand any, either. It’s part of their own bigotry that makes them see middle America in those terms.

“or [they cling to] anti-trade sentiment …” And this is just jaw-droppingly hypocritical. This comes from the same candidate who opposes the Colombian free-trade agreement and wants to throw NAFTA out the window. Who’s clinging to anti-trade sentiment? Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Big Labor.

It would be difficult to be any more condescending or insulting in so many ways to so many voters in a single sentence. It reveals a deeply elitist and shockingly callow candidate. It’s the “Let them eat cake” of 2008.

HotAir.com: Obama back on the offensive (Video added) [… “'Offensive' being a word with two different meanings, and both are applicable here."]

HotAir.com: Obama on small-town voters: Bitter, xenophobic, religious; Update: McCain camp unloads; Update: People “don’t need a president who looks down on them,” says Hillary; Update: Audio added; Update: Obama camp responds — weakly

HotAir.com: Obama tries again: You know, I probably could have said it better

HotAir.com: Obama tries to change the subject: I’m “out of touch?” Update: McCain campaign says No Sale

Newt Gingrich: Obama just doesn’t get Americans

More links after the jump...

LifeNews.com: Barack Obama Doesn't Know When Life Begins, He And Clinton OK Abortion

Here's the link: Barack Obama Doesn't Know When Life Begins, He and Clinton OK Abortion

Here's the text:

The two pro-abortion Democratic candidates sparred at a forum on faith issues at Messiah College in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. During the discussion, Barack Obama admitted he didn't understand the biological fact that human life begins at conception and Hillary Clinton restated her pro-abortion views.

Obama largely avoided a question about when human life begins but appeared to be unfamiliar with the notion of the union of sperm and egg at conception conferring the life of a new, unique human being.

"This is something that I have not, I think, come to a firm resolution on," Obama said in the forum. "I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs?"

Obama added: "What I know, as I've said before, is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates."

Clinton appeared more confident in her response, but still couched it in terms of "potential" life - a term abortion advocates frequently use to get around the idea of abortion taking a human life.

"I believe the potential for life begins at conception," Clinton said.

"For me, it is also not only about a potential life. It is about the other lives involved," Clinton added in a subtle reference to supporting abortion.

Then, Clinton made her position in favor of legalized abortion more readily clear.

"I have concluded, after great, you know, concern and searching my own mind and heart over many years that individuals must be entrusted to make this profound decision, because the alternative would be such an intrusion of government authority that it would be very difficult to sustain in our kind of open society."

"I think abortion should remain legal," she added.

Later, Clinton said she sought wisdom from God about tough moral questions like abortion, but admitted she didn't know if she had the right answers.

"I don't pretend to even believe that I know the answers to a lot of these questions," Clinton said. "I don't."

Obama stressed that "adoption is an option," but remained firmly committed to supporting another 35 years of legal abortions, which have produced more than 50 million deaths and injured millions of women in the process.

"Those of us, like myself, who believe that in this difficult situation it is a woman's responsibility and choice to make in consultation with her doctor and her pastor and her family," he said.

"I think we will continue to suggest that that's the right legal framework to deal with the issue," he added.

While that view seems incompatible with the majority of Americans who take a pro-life view on abortion, Obama tried to downplay his pro-abortion position saying, “I absolutely think we can find common ground" and "we can take some of the edge off the debate."

Obama said that "people of good will can exist on both sides," but he's not likely to find many takers for his candidacy from those who believe abortion kills children and injures women.

Like Obama, Clinton also hoped to move away from her extreme position -- with both candidates opposing limits on taxpayer funded abortions, opposing parental involvement, and opposing a ban on partial-birth abortions.

"I will continue to do what I can to reduce the number" of abortions," Clinton said during the forum.

My thoughts:

If you're out hunting deer and you see something moving in the brush that could be a deer but might also be a human being, you can't just shoot at whatever is moving in the brush. You can only shoot it if you are certain it is not a human being. Shooting without certain knowledge that you aren't risking taking a human life is to be indifferent to whether or not your choice ends up killing an innocent human being.

The same principle applies with abortion, where even pro-abortion advocates admit uncertainty about the humanity of the developing life.

Admitting uncertainty as to when human life begins, but firmly maintaining that legal, elective abortion from conception until birth (which is what Roe vs. Wade allows) is a human "right" is really and essentially the articulation of indifference as to whether or not elective abortion is an act of murder while supporting legal, elective abortion at the same time.

Senator Obama expressed that "people of good will can exist on both sides" [of the abortion debate].

Rudy Giuliani said something similar during his presidential run and I wrote about it here: Rudy Giuliani On Abortion: "Very Good People Of Equally Good Conscience Could Come To Different Opinions"

I'm including the entirety of that post after the jump...

Boy Paralyzed After School Bully Pushes Him Down Stairs

Senator Barack Hussein Obama’s Pastor & Mentor, Jeremiah Wright: "Former Muslim"

This video puts things together and helps connect the dots:

Here's a link: New Republic Reported in '07: Rev. Wright a "Former Muslim"

Here's another: Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright: Former Muslim

Here's a link to the article in The New Republic: The Agitator

Here's A Quote:

From Wright and others, Obama learned that part of his problem as an organizer was that he was trying to build a confederation of churches but wasn’t showing up in the pews on Sunday. When pastors asked him the inevitable questions about his own spiritual life, Obama would duck them uncomfortably. A Reverend Philips put the problem to him squarely when he learned that Obama didn’t attend services. “It might help your mission if you had a church home,” he told Obama. “It doesn’t matter where, really. What you’re asking from pastors requires us to set aside some of our more priestly concerns in favor of prophesy. That requires a good deal of faith on our part. It makes us want to know just where you’re getting yours from.”

After many lectures like this, Obama decided to take a second look at Wright’s church. Older pastors warned him that Trinity was for “Buppies”–black urban professionals–and didn’t have enough street cred. But Wright was a former Muslim and black nationalist who had studied at Howard and Chicago, and Trinity’s guiding principles–what the church calls the “Black Value System”–included a “Disavowal of the Pursuit of Middleclassness.’”

The crosscurrents appealed to Obama. He came to believe that the church could not only compensate for the limitations of Alinsky-style organizing but could help answer the nagging identity problem he had come to Chicago to solve. “It was a powerful program, this cultural community,” he wrote, “one more pliant than simple nationalism, more sustaining than my own brand of organizing.”

As a result, over the years, Wright became not only Obama’s pastor, but his mentor. The title of Obama’s recent book, The Audacity of Hope, is based on a sermon by Wright. (It’s worth noting, however, that, while Obama’s book is a coolheaded appeal for common ground in an age of political polarization, Wright’s sermon, “The Audacity to Hope,” is a fiery jeremiad about persevering in a world of nuclear arms and racial inequality.) Wright is one of the first people Obama thanked after his Senate victory in 2004, and he recently name-checked Wright in his speech to civil rights leaders in Selma, Alabama.

Video: Obama calls for talks with Iran

Here's more on Reverend Wright in the Wall Street Journal from Clinton supporter, Lanny Davis: Obama's Minister Problem

Ann Coulter: Obama's Dime Store 'Mein Kampf'

Ann Coulter: Dreams From My Father, Lame Excuses From My Grandfather

Thomas Sowell: Random Thoughts

More links after the jump...

Yes, Virginia: There Really Are Faithful Young Catholics

There's an article in today's Washington Post about young Catholics who -- brace yourself -- embrace Church teaching in its entirety and seek to orient themselves and their families around it.

The Curt Jester, in his unfailingly humorous way, characterizes it thus:

The Washington Post covers an amazing sub-species, Catholic who actually love their faith.

The article actually is pretty good and not sneering, but you do get paragraphs like this:

"They appreciate Benedict for his unwavering advocacy of what they hold to be "Catholic": ancient liturgical practices such as the traditional Latin Mass, the supremacy of the Catholic Church, Gregorian chants in worship and theologians who concur with the pope's teachings. As the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog for 24 years before becoming pope, Benedict earned this group's devotion."

In so many articles anything controversial is always mentioned as the Pope's teaching and not the Church's teaching. I found it ironic in a recent article by Peter Steinfel in the NYT about Clichéd Coverage in the Media he mentions abortion, contraception, same sex marriage and then relates it to "papal positions." Talk about a cliche, but amazingly the rest of Steinfel's article is also pretty good.

Curt Jester is right: it is a good article. And a heartening one. And one that gives the Catholic reader opportunity too pause and ask himself (or herself) if they are similarly doing all they can to make Christ the center of their lives.

Will Senator Obama Use Iraq To Win The Catholic Vote?

Here's the link: Will Senator Obama Use Iraq to Win the Catholic Vote?

Quote:

An editorial in the Jesuit's America magazine recently predicted that Sen. Barack Obama will profit by the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States.

The moment the Holy Father denounces the war in Iraq, it will provide a "big opening for Sen. Obama," according to Michael Sean Winters.

Winters argues that Obama can "invoke the foresight of John Paul II, a man still revered among American Catholics," while contrasting himself to Sen. Hillary Clinton, President Bush, and, most importantly, Sen. John McCain.

Winters is undoubtedly right.

The question is whether Catholic voters can be persuaded to overlook his extreme stances on the life issues, all of which are opposed to Catholic teaching, in order to register their protest against an unpopular war and those who supported it -- namely, John McCain.

Winters may not be right, however, when he predicts that "Pope Benedict will put the Iraq War, and the thinking that got us into that war, back at the center of political discussion." Such an eventuality, according to Winters's thinking, will advance Obama's cause among Catholic voters.

The trouble with his argument is simple: What Winters knows, Benedict XVI also knows. The Holy Father is well aware of the political divide between Democrats and Republicans on the life and family issues. It's no accident that just ten days before his arrival in the United States, Benedict spoke out on the "grave sins" of abortion, euthanasia, divorce, and "the culture of death."

This should be a reminder to Catholic Obama supporters that this pope embraces the same priorities of his predecessor, John Paul II. To those who are hopeful that Benedict will scold President Bush about the Iraq War, these remarks reveal what's on the Holy Father's mind as he prepares to visit this country. It is highly doubtful that Benedict will frame his criticism of the Iraq war in a way that could be construed to eclipse his regard for President Bush or Senator McCain.

My thoughts:

The Holy Father has already expressed Church teaching on this matter in a letter titled, Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles:

Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

Opposition to the Iraq war does not supersede the obligation to oppose abortion and reject politicians who support legal, elective abortion.

See also:

Just War Doctrine

Rorate Caeli – Papal Reminders On Catholics & Politics: Three Non-Negotiables

Catholic Bishops On Voting For Pro-Abortion Candidates

Heart of Darkness. Barack Obama's Abortion Stance

Meditation: Obama And The Punishment Of Unborn Life

Senator Barack Obama: Christianity Has Been “Hijacked” By The “Christian Right”

Jesus Was Not A Liberal

The Apple Argument Against Abortion

Audio: Pro-Life Philosophy — The philosophical case against abortion — by Peter Kreeft

Abortion - None Dare Risk Murder

A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters

Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics

Any thoughts?

"I Am Coming, Sent by Jesus Christ, to Bring You His Word of Life"

Following is the text of Pope Benedict XVI's video message to the American people as his U.S. visit approaches:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the United States of America,

The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you! In just a few days from now, I shall begin my apostolic visit to your beloved country. Before setting off, I would like to offer you a heartfelt greeting and an invitation to prayer. As you know, I shall only be able to visit two cities: Washington and New York. The intention behind my visit, though, is to reach out spiritually to all Catholics in the United States. At the same time, I earnestly hope that my presence among you will be seen as a fraternal gesture towards every ecclesial community, and a sign of friendship for members of other religious traditions and all men and women of good will. The risen Lord entrusted the Apostles and the Church with his Gospel of love and peace, and his intention in doing so was that the message should be passed on to all peoples.

New York Governor (And Former Serial Adulterer) Vows To Promote Homosexual Marriage

Can the blind lead the blind? Do they not both fall into the ditch? (Luke 6:39)

N.Y. Governor David Paterson, who recently admitted he was a serial adulterer, addresses the "LGBT" community at The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's 2008 New York Leadership Awards.

Any thoughts?

A Portrait Of Corruption, Seduction & Depravity

For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul? (Mark 8:36)

The article linked toward the end of this post shocked me. I've never read anything like it. It made me afraid for the souls of those involved and inspired me to want to pray for them and for all sinners (myself included).

I'm linking the story near the bottom of this post for that reason.

I should warn you that some parts of this New York Magazine article contain fairly explicit descriptions of sinful acts. I don't want to scandalize people.

Still, it's importa